Interception
by MRACR-KRRIMARTE
Summary: Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy plot to get Max and Fang together, but it might take a little interception...
1. Part 1: The Plan Goes Wrong

**Part 1: The Plan…Goes Wrong**

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

"Not now, Mom, we're trying to develop a plot against Max and Fang, bending high-tech computer programs and satellite phone signals to our will!" The Gasman called to Dr. Martinez, in her own voice, in answer to her question about being hungry.

Iggy rolled his eyes—they weren't worth much else—and motioned Gazzy to be quiet. They could trust Mom to keep their secret, but Iggy didn't want any chances taken. Nudge was, for the moment, quiet, as Iggy explained his rough outline.

"Ok, Max is in Italy and Fang's in Canada. Even if they're busy rallying their groups for the next Itex attack, they'll still miss each other. That's what'll lead to them calling—"

"That's where I come in, then," Nudge broke in, half telling, half asking. At Iggy's nod, she continued somewhat tentatively, "and keep track of their calls. If any calls go through I intercept them and reroute them to this phone, where Gazzy answers, of course, because it would be kind of silly if any of us answered, since we don't have mimicking powers. How do we stop Mom from answering it, though? What if she picks it up in a different room? Won't Max get suspicious? Or if Gazzy's voice goes—"

"Don't be so negative, Nudge, my voice is fine," Gaz broke in, surprisingly in his normal voice. With his powers of imitation, he was going to get them all in trouble someday, Iggy knew. Then again, it could be pretty useful, like now.

"But what will he say?" Nudge asked.

That was a good question. Too bad he hadn't thought of it before. Iggy turned to Angel, who was sitting on the couch watching TV with Total. Maybe she'd have some ideas.

"I'm not going to be a part of this plot!" Angel said fiercely. She never would give a reason, she just refused.

"Well, I'll work on the scripts of what you should say, ok?" Gazzy was agreeable. It meant he didn't have to do anything at the moment, so of course he was. Iggy rolled his eyes to himself and ordered Nudge away to hack into wherever she needed to so they could access and intercept the calls.

"Aye aye, sir," she said, running off to the laptop, which Fang had left behind for them, her footsteps pounding loudly down the hall.

So Iggy went to work, calling on Gazzy to help him out. He was rewiring the phones. If they could set it up so any intercepted calls came through on just one line, then the main wires wouldn't need to be tampered with, and Mom would be free to answer the phone; the interceptor programs wouldn't interfere or block out calls.

"One more block…midichlorian…half a tie here…" Iggy mumbled to himself, wrapping up the last set of wires and pushing them back into the wall. "That should do it!"

Now the two lovebirds could call each other to their heart's content. They would, no doubt, call sometime, even if they had left on rather…unpleasant terms. Ok, so it was a full-on fight. Iggy suspected that had something to do with Angel's uncooperative nature. That's why the sooner these two realized they loved each other the better. For Angel's sake—and all of the flock's, really.

They all knew Max liked Fang. They all knew Fang liked Max. But Max and Fang denied it—to everyone outside of their own minds, of course—wholeheartedly.

That's why when they'd decided to go separate ways to rally the troops it had been a mixed blessing. They were out of the house; no more quarrels upsetting Angel and waking them all up. No more jealous tension so thick you could cut it up and sell it as wall-building material. Max and Fang would have time to cool down.

But they'd be away from each other, and nothing would be solved. Iggy intended to fix that.

He found his way easily through the house and into the room where Nudge and Gazzy were already settled in.

"Now," he said in his best dramatic voice, all of them trying not to laugh, "we wait."

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

Define irony: Girl with wings rides plane to avoid getting tired. Yeah, that's my life. I kept telling myself it was for the best, leaving the flock like this for awhile. They'd be without either me or…Fang, for longer than ever before, but I trusted Mom and, to some extent, Jeb. And Iggy. They were _my_ flock; they could take care of themselves.

But I still brooded over it, huddled in my windbreaker in my seat, trying to overcome my claustrophobia. I glanced at my phone. Maybe I should call, just to see—no, I promised.

But I could still call someone else I missed. I hadn't promised not to do that. Too bad I was still furious at him. Really, who wouldn't be? The other day, while we were sitting around a wide table at the local park, Iggy ogling girls—or, at least, ogling them through

Fang—and the littler kids playing tag (on the ground), Fang decided to be a jerk. Iggy made a comment on a girl Fang had just described and Fang agreed! Can you believe it? He agreed!

Bra sizes. Can we say sexist pig?

But…he _was_ just a teenage boy, after all. And he had said, in the heat of the argument, that it wasn't as if he actually cared about the girl…I couldn't believe it! I was actually starting to forgive him!

Then to top it off, he was supposed to be here in this suffocating torpedo with me. A phone call in the middle of the night from some girl in Canada changed everything. He said that they had footage of a possible active ITEX stronghold.

Yeah, sure. And the snow-bunny had nothing to do with it.

There was probably something wrong with me…but I was starting to miss him.

I glanced down at my phone, sitting in my lap. Why was it sitting in my lap? It's not like I was going to call Fang or anything.

I picked it up and flipped it open. Of course I wasn't going to call him, I was just looking at the time.

And then it rang. Fang's number.

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

Fang sent another kid off to look for his bags at the baggage claim. Would've done it himself, but they offered. Besides, he had something he had to do.

It had been on his mind the whole way here. He and Max had promised never to split up again. This didn't really count—they were on business, rallying troops for the next Itex attack. But they hadn't left each other on bad terms since that day; he was concerned that if he didn't fix things now, it might turn into something that did count as a promise broken.

He took out his phone and looked at it. They'd been a necessity when he and Max had needed to keep international communication—and when Dr. Martinez decided she wanted to play concerned mom to a bird girl who'd fought for her life during all of it and successfully gotten out of more dangerous situations than most people could imagine. He couldn't really blame her; he got as concerned about Max when no one knew it. What he didn't understand—and probably never would—was the concern over him.

The dim light on the black phone shone up at him, displaying Max's number. All he had to do was push the button.

He did a quick 360—no one around. He was just reaching for the button when the other kids came around the corner, back with his bags. Great. Not that he wasn't just a bit relieved.

From their stance, they weren't going to let him touch one of them. Rolling his eyes, he strode over to meet them. Maybe he could convince them to let him at least carry one of his two backpacks—the one with his notebook in it.

"Fang, how was your flight?" Jack asked as he hustled by with Fang's book-bag in hand.

"Remind me never to fly again," Fang said darkly. It hadn't gone well.

Jack grimaced. "Well, I'm glad you're here, we've found some surveillance footage that I thought you should see."

Fang was being dragged through the airport and he wearily followed Jack's brisk steps.

"Jack, I have to check in with the others. So..." He looked at Jack. It was obvious that he viewed being able to assist the flock in any way to be the highest honor of his entire life. "Can you get me a cup of coffee?" he finished, far gentler then the "buzz off for a few" that was weighing on his tongue.

"Yeah, sure thing," Jack said and ran over to a ridiculously long line at the airport's Starbucks.

Fang heaved a sigh. Time to check in with Her Crankiness, and no backing out this time. He pulled out his phone and pushed the auto dial button. The phone made several clicks before it started ringing, probably due to signal transfer from the towers.

"Max," she snapped waspishly into the line. It was her traditional introduction. Far better then her original one which was "State your name and purpose." He'd convinced her it made her sound like a pompous, over-inflated automaton.

"Hey, it's Fang," he replied.

For a moment there was silence. "Oh, hey. How was your flight?"

Fang was shocked for a moment. What happened to the screaming and insults? He'd been prepared for a hang-up but it sounded almost as if Max wanted to actually talk to him.

"Uh, it sucked."

He heard her give a sort of snort. "Yeah, tell me about it. I got manhandled by some jackass in security. 'You need to take of your coat, those lumps on your back look suspicious.' Can you believe it? Well, yeah, I guess you could."

Fang was floored. Not only did she want to talk to him, she sounded…chatty.

"So, how is everything over there? I mean, is the footage legit or what?" she asked casually.

"I don't know yet, they're waiting 'til we get to their BOA before I can see it. For security reasons," he replied, feeling a weight fall off of his chest. These fights with Max were really stressful. He made a mental note about not mentioning bra sizes in front of her any longer.

"I miss you." Well _that_ was unexpected. "I'm sorry about the arguments," she continued.

A slight grin passed over his face. He thought of a few comments he could make but decided against it. "Me too. I'd say I wish you were here but I don't even wish _I_ was here," he said dryly.

Max laughed lightly into the phone. That laugh was so rare nowadays. "Trust me, I don't want either of us here, either. This place sucks."

Out of the corner of his eye, Fang could see that Jack had managed to get through the line and was heading for him with the cup of coffee in his hand. "Well, I got to get off the phone. I'll call you after I see the footage."

"Alright, Fang. Bye," she said, a slight emphasis on his name that Fang decided he liked. He looked at the phone in awe. Who drugged Max? She seemed so _normal. _Sure, he thought Max was the best thing since mustard, but lately she'd been Maxilla the Hun.

"Ready?" Jack asked expectantly.

"Yeah, let's get this show on the road," Fang said and headed for the closest exit.

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

Gazzy hung up the phone and stopped sounding like Max.

"That was great! Fang didn't even suspect it wasn't Max," he said proudly.

"Yeah, except I bet he got suspicious if he heard Iggy laughing in the background. That wasn't very smart, Iggy, you're the one who told us we had to be quiet and then you started laughing. It might have blown the whole mission open!" Nudge said, looking at Iggy mock-sternly.

What _was_ that word Iggy'd used on him so long ago, Gazzy wondered. Maxlet? That was definitely what Nudge was when Max was gone, except she used a lot more words in doing it.

She glared at Iggy, and for a moment everything was silent. It didn't last for long, though, and soon they were all rolling on the floor, laughing at each other, and at how well the mission was going.

A couple minutes later, Mom called Iggy into the kitchen to help with dinner.

"Ok, call Ma—I mean Alpha Wings now," Ig told Gaz as he left the room. That had been the cause of the snickering; Nudge came up with the names and whispered them to Iggy, right in the middle of the phone call. He rolled his eyes at the memory.

Iggy didn't need to worry; after all, what could go wrong?

As he picked up the phone, signaling Nudge to start the call, Gazzy thought about that…what _could_ go wrong? He held back a sudden evil cackle. This was going to be fun.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I stared at the phone for about 0.01 seconds, just enough to register Fang's number, before answering it.

"Max," I said, casually, of course.

"…Max…um…Ri…?" That wasn't Fang. The signal was weak, so the voice was scratchy, but that was not Fang.

"Yeah?" I asked, slightly irritated. What, Fang was so mad at me that he couldn't stand to call me himself?

"Urgen…ews…from C…ada Base," the voice said. It sounded like some kid, about my age, 14 or 15.

Urgent news, huh? _Well, it better be good_, I thought. Then I froze. They wouldn't be reporting urgent news to me with Fang there unless…it was _about_ Fang.

"Report," I managed, my throat suddenly dry.

"…bout Fang…tell you…he's…" The voice was breaking up too badly. I couldn't hear them.

_He's what?_ my mind was screaming, my heart racing. _Tell me!_

"What? He's what?" I managed, just barely, to keep my voice down.

"..'s dead…"


	2. Part 2: Fix It

**Part 2: Fix It**

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

Gazzy could hardly contain his laughter and Nudge was about to strangle him. She ran to the laptop and with the pushing of a few buttons the connection was terminated.

"I can't believe you. What were you thinking?" Nudge said tensely. She just stared at the screen; she wouldn't even look at him.

"Oh come on, Nudge, it was just a prank. I was just kidding around," Gazzy said offhandedly.

"No!" she exclaimed, lost for words. How could she get him to understand what he'd done? "What you were just doing was sending Max into panic mode. Think about the situation! We may have to abandon the mission now," Nudge said, glaring at him.

Gazzy had never seen her quite this angry. He thought about the situation. Maybe Nudge was right. "I'm sorry! Nudge, what do we do?"

Nudge took a deep breath. They could fix this. They had to. "The first thing we do is tell Iggy what you just did."

His eyes went wide. "No. We can't do that. Iggy would do cartwheels, and then he'd give birth to a bovine right here in the communications room."

Nudge rolled her eyes. "IGGY!" she called.

Gazzy lowered his blond head. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Iggy sauntered into the room. "What is it, Nudge?"

"Iggy, we have a problem," Nudge said softly.

"And that is?" he asked worriedly, not one to let suspense build. That was usually Max's job.

"Gazzy just told Max that Fang's dead. He thought it'd be funny," she replied in the same sort of tone Max would have used, reliving the annoyance and fury.

It took a few seconds before Iggy's face changed expression. The younger blonde boy sitting a few feet from him waited for the eventual freak out. It didn't come.

Iggy took a few quick steps towards Gazzy.

_WHACK!_ Gazzy felt the hand crash on the back of his head.

"I don't care how you do it, but fix it. You apparently don't quite see the circumstances. Max is on a plane, stressed out to begin with, and you just told her that her best friend, the person we all know she has feelings for, one of her _flock_, and probably the most important person in it, is _dead!_ Fix it!" Iggy turned to Nudge. "Get a connection going to Max. We have to fix this," he said.

Why he'd put Gazzy in charge of that conversation instead of writing a script he'd never know. Well, maybe he did. It _could_ have had something to do with the fact that Ella had mentioned she needed some help in the work she was doing outside. Next time, he'd write the dialogue and go over the plan first, help girl later, hard as that may be.

Nudge looked at Gazzy and shook her head. In moments another connection was being established and Gazzy was looking miserable as he waited for Max to pick up the phone and Iggy's ensuing orders of what to say.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I couldn't breath. The room was starting to turn around me. All I could think about was the horrible things I'd said before I'd left for the mission. The accusations and harsh words that would be my last to somebody who had meant so much to me.

"_You want to go ahead and go to Canada, fine. Don't expect me to be happy about it. You know that we weren't supposed to split up, but just because some...some _snow-bunny_ calls you up in the middle of the night with a cryptic message you're going to Canada anyway!"_

"_Max, it's not like that and you know it." _

"_Whatever, Fang. I'll deal with you when I get back."_

Suddenly I felt violently ill. I pulled down the zipper on my pull-over, hoping fresh air would help. It didn't. I was panicking. Everything seemed even more suspicious then normal. The flight attendants were looking at me strangely. A young woman stepped over to me. "Miss, are you alright?" she asked.

_Alright? Alright?!_ I just shook my head and charged for the lavatory. It was occupied. I stood there staring at the door, willing the old lady or fat businessman inside to finish and leave. After what felt like ages later the sign switched to "vacant" and a harassed-looking woman and her young son stepped out of the small cubicle. I barely waited for them to get out of the door's range before shoving past them, slamming the door, and locking it behind me.

I knew I was hyperventilating. _Calm down. Slow, deep breaths. Now is not the time to have a panic-attack._ I looked in the mirror and turned on the sink, splashing cold water on my face. As used as I was to death, horrors, and all the etcetera that came with being an avian hybrid on the run from her creators, I was only one girl. I only had five freaking people I truly trusted in the whole world—almost seven, now. One of them couldn't…leave me.

Oh, God, oh, God, not Fang, not Fang, not Fang—my mind froze.

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening." It was the "Max Mantra." What I said to try and keep the attacks to a dull roar. The Three D's, as Fang put it. "Deception, Delusion, and Denial." If I could make it go away for a while, I could make it through.

The world was spinning faster and faster. Reality wasn't retreating and my pulse raced faster and faster. Breathing was becoming impossible. It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest.

Everything was starting to grow dim and fuzzy around the edges. Then I just fainted onto the floor.

**Martinez House—Headquarters.**

Iggy was becoming more and more concerned.

"Nudge," Gazzy said, becoming more and more concerned. "Max isn't answering her phone. I just got sent to voice mail. Try it again."

Nudge was becoming more and more concerned, too. What a team they made…

There was no way to know what a panicked, grief-stricken Max could do on an International Airline Flight a couple thousand miles above ground.

"Connection's go!" she whispered and she could hear the phone ringing in Gazzy's hand, again. _Come on, Max, answer the phone,_ she thought worriedly. If Gazzy kept this stuff up Max wasn't going to be the only one with an ulcer after this mission.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

Something was making a loud grinding noise. I looked around blearily. My phone was rattling across the bathroom floor. I sat up and grabbed the phone without even looking at the ID.

"Max," I said softly, my voice hoarse.

"Hey, Max. This is Jerry, one of the guys at the Canada Base. I was to inform you that Fang has arrived to the meeting place. He wanted to tell you himself when he got to the safe house but he's dead asleep on the couch. He must have had a bad flight or something. I tried calling you earlier but I had really crappy signal and I wasn't sure that you got the message," a nasally voice reported into the phone, his voice breaking in mid-word.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. Tell Fang when he wakes up that...well, just tell him that I want to speak to him when he gets the chance," I said wearily, but suddenly trembling with relief.

"Sure, first thing. I hope there wasn't any miscommunication or anything," Jerry said.

I laughed bitterly. Miscommunication? Just a bit, yeah. "Actually, I only heard 'Fang's dead' and, well, let's just say I wasn't very happy," I said, keeping a minimum amount of the automatically lashing-out sarcasm in my voice. It wasn't this kid's fault the signal was awful.

"Oh, jeez, sorry about that Max. I assure you he's perfectly fine, drooling on my couch as we speak," Jerry said with a small, nervous laugh.

Suddenly I felt silly for my panic attack. "Yeah, I know. You just make sure Fang calls me. Oh, and Jerry...?"

"Yeah, Max?" he asked.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Fang—or anyone—about this," I said in my Maximum-Jedi-mind-trick voice. Anyone got hold of the itty-bitty fact that when faced with Fang's death I went into a complete panic-attack, the results wouldn't be pretty. Not that I wouldn't have gone into a panic attack if it had been any other member of the flock…

"Absolutely. Sorry for the trouble. Won't happen again. Will have Fang call. Gotta go now," Jerry rattled nervously. Then the line went dead.

I hung up. "Weird," I said out loud and looked at the phone. I stood up, still weak from my lovely freak-out and turned off the water, trying to compose myself.

_Ding. Ding. Ding._ "Hello, this is your pilot speaking. We've had some unexpected weather delays and will have to wait for clearance to land. This will not affect our physical landing and everything is safe. Please bear with us through this delay. Thank you for flying with—"

Great, just spiffy. Another hour floating around in circles above an airport. I left the bathroom and sat back down at my seat, grabbing the first magazine I could find. I opened it to a random page, only to be confronted with a two-page spread of me and Fang.

The headline read, "Two Avenging Angels Paving the Way for Universal Morality."

_Just freaking great_. I looked at the photo. It showed me at a rally in D.C., Fang standing beside me. We were looking at each other in such a way that if you weren't there you might think there was something more between us then just friendship. I swear, we never looked that way at each other, especially not for a camera to pick up—did we? Well, that's what the article suggested.

"Close your eyes and picture a world where large, military-funded corporations can play God and create a hybrid of avian and human beings resulting in children having the ability to fly with a pair of magnificent, functional wings. Now open them, because it isn't an illusion anymore. This is real and it's already happened.

"Supposedly, ITEX Corp. has been genetically enhancing human DNA, much like a mad scientist out of a B-rated horror film, with minimal success. That is, until 15 years ago. That is how Maximum Ride (known as 'Max') and her 'flock,' as she calls the five other escaped victims of the corporation's experiments, came to exist.

"Max and her right-hand man, known only as 'Fang,' have set rallies ablaze across the globe, all starting with the well-known blog entitled '12 wings, 6 kids and 1 blog.' The blog gave a no-holds-barred, blow-by-blow account of the whereabouts and actions of the ITEX Corporation—and the flock's desperate struggle for freedom.

"One may wonder if being in such close quarters to a person who is also an avian hybrid of the opposite sex and the same age would result in an in-air romance? Don't expect any new cherubs anytime soon; "We're very close friends, that's all!" is what Max had to say when asked about the closeness between her and Fang..."

I just wanted to rip my hair out. Why, why, _why_ couldn't they just take me at my word on this? Why did everybody have to poke their noses into my non-existent romantic relationship with Fang? It was so infuriating. It's not like Fang was the only one I was close to in the flock—all of us were one, close family. 'Sides, even if I did have feelings for him other then that of a good friend, why should the rest of the known world have to know about it?

Disgusted, I threw the magazine in the first direction I could aim. It hit the person in front of me with a loud "shlofph."

"Hey! Why'd you—wait, aren't you Max Ride?" asked the young man.

Oh the joys of being photographed.


	3. Part 3: Stage 2

**Part 3: Stage 2**

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

"Ok, here we are. Home sweet home!" Judy called, stepping out of the car.

Fang got out of the back seat warily. Something didn't feel right. Something was definitely not right.

"Well, ok, not _home_, exactly," Jake corrected the girl. "It's just our base. And it's temporary."

"Oh, whatever!" Judy called, unpacking one of Fang's bags.

"Yeah, shut up, Jake," said another girl, Jayna, smacking Jake in the back of the head.

Fang ignored the rest of the good-natured fight as he walked away, into their temporary base—something resembling a treehouse underground, on the outskirts of town.

Something just didn't feel right, and he couldn't place it. He hated that feeling.

"Hey, man, everything okay?" Jack asked, coming over. What was with these confusing names? Jake, Jack…they sounded too close.

Before Fang could answer, Jake came in. Both of them in the same room. Great. One of them asked what was up. Probably Jake, since Jack had already asked that.

Fang couldn't concentrate on them. Something was pushing at his mind for attention.

"Why didn't Max come?" a high-pitched voice asked from behind him.

"Jorla, not now. Fang needs to get settled in first," another girl, Joanna, told the little girl. But the words stuck in his mind. Max!

"I've, uh, I've got to go call the flock—" Fang barely gave any explanation, dashing outside and whipping out his phone, dialing Max's number. Something wasn't right with Max—was she ok? She had to be…

_Come on, come on, pick up, Max, don't do this to me,_ he thought as the phone seemed to ring forever, occasional clicks between the rings.

Finally, she picked up.

"Max?" he asked, masking his worry.

"Yeah, Fang?" she used that emphasis again, her voice alone making the feeling that something was wrong start to die down.

"Uh, just wanted to check in, you know, since I just got to the base and everything…"

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

Gazzy looked pale and a little stressed as he got off the phone with Fang.

"We've really got to figure out a way to deal with a situation like that," he mumbled.

Nudge looked at him and sighed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting Iron Tooth to call at that moment," she said. "You did great, though. Do you think he suspected anything?"

"I don't know. He's always suspicious and I did lay it a little thick. I mean, she came from being 'Xena: Warrior Princess' to 'Casper the friendly ghost' in two phone calls," he said, shaking his head. Of course, he hadn't done that bad, and Iggy hadn't even been there helping him with what to say.

Nudge gave him a dirty look. "She's not that bad."

"Have you seen Ma—Alpha Wings lately? She's meaner then a snake!" he exclaimed disbelievingly.

"No, I meant about Xena." Gazzy rolled his eyes.

Iggy stepped into the room. "How's it going?" he asked hurriedly. He'd heard some kind of commotion coming from the room and rushed back in. And everything had been going fine with Max, too.

"Well my head hurts, but I got everything straightened out, no thanks to you," Gazzy said a bit irritably.

Nudge stood out of her seat. "We had a small situation that was un-Gazzy-related. He was on the phone with Alpha Wings, and Iron Tooth called. His call nearly got redirected to Alpha. Fortunately he managed to hurry things with her and I was able to delay the signal transfer," she reported.

"I have to hand it to you, Nudge, you are queen of the computer thing," Iggy said.

"Hey, what about me?" Gazzy asked.

"You are still in hot water, buddy," Iggy drawled sarcastically. "But good job."

Nudge just sighed wearily. "We need to come up with a plan for if this happens again. Some sort of diversion."

"I'll let you two figure it out. I'm going to bring in a couple of cots. You know how those two keep weird hours; they could call in the middle of the night. Which means we'll have to stay in the Com Room," Gazzy said, stepping out of the room.

This was going to be a long weekend.

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

Fang looked at the screen in disbelief. "Guys, that's not ITEX. It's Fed-Ex."

He turned to look at the group of kids in the room. They looked bewildered.

"But...but they landed a plane and they're moving things into that building," ventured Joel.

"Come on, they're wearing uniforms!" a girl named Jessica exclaimed. Fang sighed.

"Look, the packages are being scanned and signed for. It's a delivery for the wildlife preserve," he said. "Guys, I really appreciate your concern but this isn't a threat. If it had been a real ITEX base, your hard work and ability to keep things monitored would have proved helpful. Good job keeping an eye out. Keep doing it. But this," he pointed at the monitor, "isn't a threat."

And so, stuck with a roomful of embarrassed teenagers, Fang decided to go to his "room." Actually a pantry that had a bed in it. Well, time to report to Max.

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

The line was beeping and Nudge pried her head off the desk to look up at the active screen. "Crap! Gazzy, Iggy, wake up. We've got incoming," she said.

The two boys jumped up groggily. "Who is it?" Iggy asked.

Nudge took a moment to make her eyes focus. "Iron Tooth," she answered. To Gazzy, she said, "Remember, be the Max."

Gazzy sighed and picked up his headset. He gave the signal and Nudge picked up the line.

"Max," Gazzy announced, sounding exactly like the real deal.

He listened for a while. "Oh really? So it's been a rabid-goose-chase. Well—" he stopped, obviously being cut off. "Yeah, I was about to say the same thing."

Gazzy rolled his eyes and turned on the light. "Yeah, well, I don't know yet. It depends on if I ever get out the transportation system. The taxi driver doesn't speak English very well and I'm basically taking the grand tour."

Nudge stepped over to the coffeepot and started a brew. If Fang was calling, it was likely that they'd be hearing from Max within the next hour. Those two were so similar to each other it was scary.

"So you're coming back when?" Gazzy asked with a look of silent panic. He snapped his fingers and Nudge gave him a pen and some paper.

_"Coming back tomorrow, tape mistaken. What do I do?"_

Nudged read the message to an irritated Iggy who looked worried for a while and then snatched the pen out of Gazzy's hand.

_"Tell him double check, just to be sure. This will give us some time."_

Gazzy frantically read the surprisingly neat script. "Hey Fang, I think it would be a good idea for you to check out the site personally. You know, just to double check and be sure. This will give us some time." Gazzy said.

Nudge smacked him upside the head. "_OW! _... What? Oh, no. We just hit a pothole ... Hold on a sec."

Gazzy covered the receiver. "What'd you hit me for?" he whispered.

"You weren't supposed to say that last part. Now he'll be suspicious for sure!" Nudge stage-whispered.

Iggy didn't bother speaking but the pen in his hand sped across the sheet of paper.

Gazzy suddenly realized what he said, his eyes widening. He made a face at what Iggy wrote and uncovered the mic.

"No, I need to be dropped off there. No! There!" He exclaimed in Max's voice. "Jeez." Then he made the sound of a car door slamming. "In America you can't catch a cab, here they won't let you out!"

Nudge looked confused, but Iggy was grinning.

"Oh, no, I meant that—I thought that, well, it'd give us time to talk without us breathing on each other's necks. You know, some distance to defuse the bomb," Gazzy said, grasping for straws.

Iggy rolled his eyes and mimed smacking his forehead. Well, he couldn't expect Gazzy to be perfect at this time of night.

" ... Yeah, I guess that does sound like something Gazzy would say; maybe I've been around him too much," he said, topping it off with a little laugh.

_Nice save, Gaz,_ Iggy thought.

"Fang, I have a question for you. What do you think of me? ... No, I mean as a person. Am I your friend or—" Iggy grimaced. "Well, I mean, do you think that we could ... Exactly. Well? Do you?" Gazzy asked, grimacing himself, exhausted. But at least they were making progress.

Suddenly he grinned. "That's okay, I mean, I kinda feel like that too. I've just been so stressed out that it's been hostility all around lately. ... Well, maybe we can take some time and talk about it ...Yeah, so we don't have to worry about being totally pressured ... Well that and we won't have Gazzy making imitations ... Or that! ... Well, I'm finally at the hotel ... Sure, I'll call you tomorrow, what time? … 3 PM. Here or there? ... Time difference ... Okay, I'll call you at 3 PM my time. Your morning. Okay, well 'night, Fang." And the line disconnected.

Gazzy looked relieved. Iggy and Nudge were, too.

"Nice one," Nudge offered him a cup of coffee.

Gazzy took the cup gratefully. "That boy is confused."

Nudge collapsed into her seat.

"No kidding," Iggy said. "They both are."

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

"You mean, more then friends? ... Well, I don't know. I mean, you're always my best friend. But sometimes, I think that there could be more to it then that. Then you get mad and I don't know what to think," Fang said into the phone, a blush crawling across his face. He wasn't even sure how they got to talking about this. Max wanted him to stay here for a day to talk about their friendship. Maybe more.

Strangely, it made some sort of sense if you looked at it with your head cocked.

She'd just gotten to the hotel. "Well, how about you call me ... 3PM ...What do you mean where? ... Oh, there I suppose ... 'Night Max." Then he hung up, once again he looked at the phone strangely. Maybe it dialed into a parallel universe or something.

Fang shook his head and started to take off his boots. Lying down on the bed, he looked up at the ceiling and began to think. Could there be more between him and Max? Yeah, definitely. Did she feel the same way? Maybe, she did bring it up. Or maybe he was completely misunderstanding what she was meaning. It wouldn't be the first time.

_Take it slow, Fang. Wait for her to say something first,_ he thought as he closed his eyes.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

Finally, I got through security and made it all the way to the hotel, no thanks to the street signs. I was beginning to think that I should have brought Total. At least he knew what they meant. I looked at my watch, thinking I should call Fang. It had been a while.

I sat down wearily on the bed and called Fang. "Hey, it's Max. That Josh guy said he'd have you call ... What do you mean, 'I was afraid'?! ... You still need to check in ... No, I mean personally ...What? ... Well what about the footage? ... What do you—" I stopped to gather her composure. "Fang, is the footage legit or is it useless? ... Oh, well when are you ... Why? ... Oh, that kind of makes sense," I said.

"So, I thought that since we're not right there next to each other, we can discuss some of our problems. Or rather the problems we've been having," Fang had said. Yeah, you got it. Yikes.

"The only problem I'm having is that you're impossible," I said reflexively.

"Max," Fang had warned.

"Okay, I'll be nice. If you really want to know, I think you spend too much time staring at and commenting on girls for Iggy. Actually, I think you're, well...I think you talk to girls too much," I confessed in a rush.

"Why does that bother you, Max?" he asked. Oh like he didn't know why that would bother anyone!

"Because—because, well, I think that I..." Yeah, really smooth. Typical of me.

"What was that?" Fang asked. He was really being a jerk, and it was starting to get on my nerves, but for some reason the instinctive anger in my mind translated to nervous embarrassment coming out of my mouth. Go figure.

"I think I might have feelings for you," I said, taking a deep breath.

Fang was quiet for a minute. "Max, I didn't know..."

I bit my lip. "I know, and I just…it's stupid, but I kinda get...well, you know."

"Jealous?" he asked.

"Yeah...sort of...I don't know. I'm tired and I've had a bad day and tomorrow I know I'm going to wake up feeling like an idiot," I sighed. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Why did he always want to "talk about it"?

"No, it's ok. To tell you the truth...I kinda feel that sometimes we could be more then just friends," he said softly.

I closed my eyes. No way. "Really?" I confirmed. Well, it would explain him kissing me.

"You're not going to get all weird on me, are you?" he asked.

"Well, no...I mean...we aren't even really sure yet. So there's nothing there to be weird about. I didn't get weird before when you kissed me, right?" I said. Ok, so I lied. I did get all weird and run off, but while we were talking about everything and I was trying to stop the awkwardness, why not bring up that old subject again? It fit into my plan of escape from the conversation _perfectly_. Note sarcasm.

There was a pause. "Yeah, _when I kissed you,_" he emphasized.

Wait, _what?_ "What do you mean? Do you think it's because you did it? Like I couldn't possibly be—"

"No, that wasn't what I meant. I was agreeing with you. There's a cat here. I hate cats," he said. Agreeing with me? He _didn't_ think it was weird when I ran away after he kissed me?

"Ok, sure. I'm just going to drop it then. Maybe...maybe we should sleep on it and talk about this tomorrow or something?" Perfect. Now I could get out of this conversation. Of course, my choice of wording left much to be desired. Now I had to talk about it tomorrow for sure. Great.

"You know, I think that would be a great idea. Maybe we can figure out where exactly we stand while we're away from each other. That way nobody feels pressured. We can just talk and really try to figure it out," he said, sounding absolutely genuine. What had happened to Fang? Why was he acting so…un-Fang-like?

"I like that idea. It gives us room to think," I replied, pretty much frantic by now.

"Well, I've got a busy day tomorrow, so let's call it a night," Fang said.

"Yeah. I'll call tomorrow, about 3 my time. Just before the rally for me, and you should be up by then, right? Yeah, ok, good night, Fang," I said all at once, ready to hang up.

"Hey, don't worry, you're my best friend no matter what. Nothing that we decide is going to affect that. And if talking can stop this constant fighting, then talk we shall do," he said softly.

It was unthinkable. Absolutely unthinkable, I was in utter disbelief! _Tears_ were coming down my cheeks! Oh, and I was surprised at what Fang was saying, too. "Fang," I started. Might as well tell him. "Earlier, when I was on the plane, Josh or Jerry or whatever his name was called. The signal was bad and I thought...well I thought he said that you were dead. I had the worst panic attack ever. I wasn't sure what I would ever do without you. It got me thinking, though. What if you had died and the last thing I'd ever said to you was some dumb thing from an argument I never intended? Fang, I'm really sorry about the fight, and what I said, and I just want you to know that…" I actually said, unable to finish, my voice wavering.

"Max...are you...crying?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Possibly," I said, trying to pull it together. I was _not_ going to cry. I always cried in front of Fang.

"Don't cry, Max. It's okay. I'm sorry about the panic attack. Next time I'll just call right after I get off the plane," he said.

"No, it's okay. I just felt like...like I needed to tell you that, in case," I told him.

"Okay, sweet dreams, Max," Fang said.

"Yeah, Good night, Fang," I said and waited for him to hang up. For some reason I felt hopeful now.

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

"You're not going to get all weird on me, are you?" Gazzy asked, looking bored. He tossed down a seven and drew a card from the top of the pile.

Then his jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Nudge mouthed.

There was a pause. "Yeah, _when I kissed you,_" he emphasized.

"What?" Nudge exclaimed, shocked. Iggy pulled her back down, covering her mouth with his hand, staring unseeingly at Gazzy. Nudge was giving him a dirty look but he didn't notice.

"No, that wasn't what I meant. I meant it like I was agreeing with you. There's a cat here. I hate cats," Gazzy covered for the emphasis. They'd kissed? What else did they not know about these two that could potentially blow their cover? "You know, I think that would be a great idea. Maybe we can figure out where exactly we stand while we're away from each other. That way nobody feels pressured. We can just talk and really try to figure it out," he said, obviously trying to make what Iggy had told him to sound like something Fang would say.

He looked stressed. Nudge sympathized; she was good with computers, so she knew how stressful that part could be, but Gazzy had the most "main" job of them all, actually being Max and Fang.

"Well, I've got a busy day tomorrow, so let's call it a night," he continued. "Hey, don't worry, you're my best friend no matter what. Nothing that we decide is going to affect that. And if talking can stop this constant fighting, then talk we shall do," he said, sounding sincere but making a face the entire time. The picture _so_ didn't fit with the way the voice sounded.

Nudge wanted to laugh at it, but her mind was still trying to process the fact that Fang had once kissed Max.

"Max...are you...crying?" Gazzy asked, concerned. "Don't cry, Max. It's okay. I'm sorry about the panic attack. Next time I'll just call right after I get off the plane. Okay, sweet dreams, Max." She'd been crying because of his prank? _Max_ had been _crying?_

Gazzy made the "cut" signal and Nudge closed it down.

"I can't believe that just happened!" Gazzy exclaimed, still in Fang's voice.

"No kidding," Nudge said, Iggy finally letting her go. "I can't believe it. What if there's other stuff that we don't know about. I mean, what if they'd tried to be together already. I wonder when they kissed and how we didn't know about it?" Nudge rattled on.

"No, I mean, she started crying. That and she had a panic attack!" Gazzy was bewildered.

"I told you that was a stupid move," Iggy said, half-asleep. He'd forgiven Gazzy awhile ago but it was still too much fun to tease him.

Gazzy rolled his eyes. This whole situation, including the minimum sleep, was getting all of them on edge.

"Don't you guys even care?" Nudge piped up, having been talking nonstop about Fang and Max in the background. "They _kissed_, already!"

"Yeah," Iggy said, "I already knew that."

"Well good for you," Nudge said sarcastically and marched toward her cot. Stupid boys. Stupid plan. Stupid cot. She needed proper sleep!

"Well, at least we're past stage 2," Gazzy said, relieved and very ready to go to sleep.

"Good work, Gaz. Let me know when they call again and we're ready to hit stage 3," Iggy said and lay back down.

"Will do. Now, I'm going to bed, too."


	4. Part 4: Good Luck

**Part 4: Good Luck**

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

Fang had been up and running since the break of dawn. He'd already checked out the site, and it definitely was a Fed-Ex location. Now he could go home.

Well, he could do that, but what about Max? Could they really try to work something out? Figure out their relationships boundaries? If they could do that, why not stay a little longer and give it some more time?

He had to admit that he was definitely curious about whether or not this was going to work. He looked at his watch, it was 6:45 AM. To be honest, he was nervous. To be completely humiliated, he had butterflies. Freaking _butterflies._

Fang sat down by a tree and tried to relax. "Come on, this is just Max. There's nothing to be worried about, even if she is acting completely un-Max-like."

Then his phone rang, nearly giving him a heart attack. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. "Hello?" He asked, quieter than usual. He rolled his eyes at himself.

"Hey, Fang. How are you doing?" Max asked.

"G-Good." Great, now he was stuttering. Could he get any more ridiculously obvious?

"Did you check out that site yet?"

"Nope," he said a little too quickly. "I'm waiting to gather some backup. I don't want to be alone if this isn't just a Fed-Ex building." Smooth, very smooth.

"That's a good idea. So, how'd you sleep last night?" she asked.

Fang took a breath. "Well, I spent a lot of the night thinking," he said.

"About what?" Max asked. "That mission or...what we talked about?"

"What we talked about," Fang said and picked up a twig and started fiddling with it.

"So was I. Well, more like thinking about when you kissed me."

Fang felt himself blush. "Yeah, about that. I don't want to make you feel like you have to like me or anything, but I have had feelings, mixed ones mostly, about you for a long time. And I guess...I couldn't _say_ why at the time. It was really awkward."

"So you kissed me because you couldn't tell me? Fang, I'm confused," she said with a sigh.

Fang laughed slightly. "Yeah, so am I. I just don't know how to say what I feel. Put it into words, you know."

"What if I were to tell you that I kind of feel the same way. That's the reason I got so mad when you were talking to Iggy about those girls. I was jealous," she said.

Fang couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Jealous?" Max was actually jealous?

"Yeah. I know it's stupid but it bothers me," Max said awkwardly. What was she thinking? It wasn't stupid. Fang wished they hadn't decided to talk about this apart. It was a lot easier to reassure her in person.

"I didn't know that. Max, if I'd known I wouldn't have done it. But it's not like I was just being crass, I was talking with Iggy. You know how he is. He wants descriptions and stuff. I just do it so he doesn't feel left out. He's a guy; guys are perverts," Fang said in what was a probably unsuccessful attempt to make him sound like less of an idiot, and to reassure Max.

"So, you're saying that you're a pervert?" Max asked laughingly.

"No!" Fang exclaimed. Phones were his enemy. Why did this have to happen now? Why couldn't they ever work this out in person? Why did it always come down to an argument? "I mean that Iggy's a pervert. But that's normal. And I sound like a complete idiot. I'm sorry."

Max laughed a little bit, but it sounded like she was trying to suppress...cackling? "No, that's okay. I think I know what you mean. So you don't really agree with half of that stuff?"

Fang sighed. "No, I don't. I just don't want Iggy to feel weird just because he's blind. I know that sounds really horrible but it's true."

"I think I'm starting to understand. But you still didn't have to agree that anything less then a C-cup was a bit too small!" Max exclaimed.

Fang rolled his eyes. He hadn't exactly agreed. "Iggy doesn't even know what a C-cup looks like. Frankly, I don't even know. He probably hears the comments on TV and thinks that C-cups are the bare minimum. If that's what he believes, I'll wait for him to figure it out for himself." Some kind of repressed snickering came from the other end, and Fang wondered just where Max was.

Max laughed. "Well, put it to you this way, I have Bs."

Fang nearly choked. He couldn't believe she was telling him this. And she obviously wasn't in the privacy of her room, because he heard some sounds in the background. "It doesn't matter what you have, Max. That isn't really important," he said.

"I know, but you said you didn't know what Cs looked like. So they're bigger than mine," she said, as if it was perfectly normal to be discussing the size of her breasts by phone when she obviously wasn't even alone on that end. Like it was perfectly normal to be discussing them _at all_.

Fang took a breath. "Okay, I...well..." Exactly what sort of coherent response was he supposed to come up with after that?

"Are you uncomfortable talking about this?" she asked.

"Yes!" Fang said, letting out a breath.

"That's okay. We'll change the topic." She sounded slightly amused. Just like Max to enjoy making him uncomfortable. "So you've had feelings for me? Since when?" she asked. Yeah, because _that_ was so much better.

"Well, I don't know an exact date. But I'd had them for a long time before we found out about Itex's By-Half Plan," Fang said, thinking back. "Obviously, since that's when I kissed you in the first place." She'd seemed uncomfortable when he'd kissed her, but that wasn't something he was entirely uncomfortable talking about.

"Yeah," Max said shortly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just curious."

"Well, it's true. Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Have you, well, decided anything?"

"Well, I've thought about it a lot, but I haven't decided anything for certain yet. I mean, this is a pretty big thing to think about, you know," she said.

"That's cool."

"Why, have you?"

"Well, kind of." He sighed and stood up, looking around. "If you decide that you think that we could be more then friends...I'd like that." Couldn't he say anything without sounding like a doofus? "But if you decide that we couldn't be, I'll be okay with that, too."

"Thanks, Fang. I know we still need to think about it, but I know how hard that was for you to say. At least now I know that I'm not going to be rejected flat out. Which doesn't mean that you should feel like I'm rejecting you if I decide that we should just be friends," Max said.

"Yeah. I understand what you're saying," Fang replied.

"I know we should work this out right now, but I've got the rally to do and they're not going to wait…" she trailed off.

Fang nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'll talk to you later. Good luck, not that you need it. I'm sure you'll do great on your own."

"Thanks. Well, bye. Talk to you later." Then the line went dead.

Fang hung up and put the phone in his pocket. Now what was he going to do?

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

"_That_ went well," Nudge said sarcastically.

Gazzy, missing her sarcasm, replied, "Yeah. I can't believe this. It's like they might as well be speaking to each other. They're saying the stuff that Iggy already came up with." He picked up a slice of pizza.

"I was being _sarcastic_, Gazzy!" Nudge exclaimed in frustration. "That didn't go well at all! You started talking about _bra sizes!_ Max would never do that. That was _completely_ un-Max! Completely! Now Fang'll know for sure, and then what are we supposed to do? What is it with you and Iggy? You made him laugh so hard that he had to leave the room! Speaking of which, you better go and get him before Max calls."

Iggy came back in, still laughing slightly. "That was great, Gazzy. I don't think it's very Max—I mean, Alpha Wings-like, though, I have to agree with Nudge, but still, dude," he said, giving Gazzy a high-five.

"How did you even know Max's bra size?!" Nudge ranted on. "You shouldn't even know something like that! What, do you, like, snoop around all the girls' drawers in this whole house?"

" 'S not my fault I keep getting the laundry job," Gazzy replied, shrugging then grinning at Nudge's look of shock, fury, and, amazingly, speechlessness. "So what's the plan for Alpha Wings?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could dump Iron Tooth's little speech on her," Iggy said, Nudge rolling her eyes. Why couldn't those boys understand the delicacy of the situation? She'd thought Iggy might, but why she ever thought that she'd never know. They were just a couple of…_boys!_ They didn't understand romance at all. Iggy continued, "then we'd just go from there."

Gazzy nodded through a mouthful of food. "Sounds like a plan. You want to give Max a ring?"

Nudge rolled her eyes. "Yeah, since she didn't call him at the right time, that would be good. Of course, you're the idiot who scheduled their calls for the same time!"

Iggy's face turned suddenly serious. "Why would she forget to call?"

Nudge nodded grimly and turned to the computer to establish a line.

"Hey, A—Max. It's Fang," Gazzy said, looking at his rapidly cooling pizza mournfully.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I was in the middle of tying my shoes when my phone started ringing. "Max," I said.

"Hey, A—Max. It's Fang."

_Oh, crap! _I stopped what I was doing for a second. I'd completely forgotten to call him! Why, you ask, did I forget to call him? Because 3 PM my time was 7 AM his time, so I couldn't call him any earlier, and I hadn't slept a wink last night. So, I'd fallen asleep by 2:30 in the afternoon, for about a half hour, and I had to be at the rally fifteen minutes from _now_, which was ten minutes after 3, so I was rushing. Hey, I like my long, hot showers. And publicity doesn't get any easier with time, not after a life of hiding and being on the run. The stress is enough to drive anything out of my mind. Still, I tried to be casual about it. "Oh, hey, so what's up with that site?"

"Why didn't you call?" So much for that.

"Well, I, uh, fell asleep and then I had to rush or I'd be late," I blurted. Better than a lie, and Fang would be able to tell if I was lying, anyway.

"Oh, ok. Well, it's a dud. I've checked the place over top to bottom. It's clear," he said.

"Well, I guess that's good news, right?" I said, rushing to finish with my shoe.

"Yeah, still, it's a pain in the butt," he said unhappily.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, it's just annoyance. I can't believe I had to come all the way out here for nothing," Fang said. That sounded like normal Fang. Annoyed.

"Yeah. At least you don't have to go to this rally, though. Ugh! I hate these things!"

"Whoa, calm down. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"No, I couldn't sleep at all," I said. "I kept thinking about what you said." Oh, _great_. My mouth hates me. Blurting out everything that it can find.

"Did I upset you?" he asked worriedly.

"No, nothing like that," I hurried to assure him. "It's just...I don't know what to think. I'm so confused."

"Max, listen, if you decide that you think that we could be more then friends...I'd like that. But if you decide that we couldn't be, then I'll be okay with that, too," he said.

I relaxed for a moment. He told me his decision, his thoughts, but he was letting me know that either way he'd still be ok with me. "Really?"

"Yes, I mean it," he said, sounding completely sincere.

"Fang, I really appreciate that," I told him, running a hand through my hair.

"Don't sweat it. Good luck at the rally; I'm sure you're going to do great."

I smiled to myself. I was pretty sure I'd made my decision, but I wasn't going to say anything just yet. Then I sighed. "Fang, I really wish you were here. I feel so alone right now. You've always been there. It was comforting just knowing that you were there, no matter what."

Something was in the air, and it was making me say things I'd normally never think of saying. Maybe it was just this unexpected attitude in Fang that was bringing it out.

"Max, I might not actually be there, but I still support you, you know," he said.

"I know. Well, I have to get off the phone for this rally. They're getting impatient." In fact, the timid knocks at my door had turned to frantic yells. Apparently they didn't take into account that I had no intention of riding in their car. "Talk to you later?"

"Yeah. Call me whenever. I'm going to be here for a while. My flight isn't 'til tomorrow so it looks like we'll have more time to talk about this."

"Yeah. Okay, well, goodbye Fang," I said and hung up the phone. "I just have to get through this rally and tomorrow, I get on the plane for home," I reassured myself and got up to leave.

Still ignoring the frantic but polite poundings on my door, I headed for the window. If I was going to make an entrance, I might as well make an _entrance._


	5. Part 5: Coming Home

**Part 5: Coming Home**

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

Gazzy took the headset off. "Now can I finish my food?" he asked sarcastically.

Nudge laughed. "I suppose."

"How do you think it's going?" Iggy asked Gaz. After all, he was the only one actually talking to both of the subjects; he'd be the only one to know just yet.

"Well, Iron Tooth's thinking it over but Alpha Wings wants to have his children," Gazzy said dead-pan.

"Gazzy!" Nudge said, mortified but laughing.

"Okay, okay. It's teetering towards stage 3. Alpha Wings is a little slow. I think after the rally she'll be less stressed and can talk about it more," Gazzy said and took a bite out of his pizza.

"Good. Kind of what I figured from what you were saying. And what's the situation with Iron Tooth?" he asked for confirmation.

"He's an open book. It's like he's just been waiting for a time when she wasn't going to make him feel stupid," Nudge predicted. "I can tell just from your side of the conversation, especially from that "little speech" you wrote down. He's so incredibly sweet, too! He's been so nervous that I feel bad that we're tricking him."

Iggy shook his head. "Down, Nudge. We're not 'tricking him' per say, more like making them feel comfortable talking to each other and _not_ getting into an argument."

"Yeah, they've basically been saying the same stuff I'm supposed to, so it's like they're talking to each other anyway," Gazzy interjected.

Iggy nodded. "We just had to help them along. Get them started. I guess we could quit now, but this is far too much fun," he added with an evil gleam in his eye.

The dark bird-girl rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I suppose you're right, but I still feel kind of bad. What if Max decides not to like him? He's going to be crushed," Nudge said sadly.

"Nudge, stop being so dramatic," Gazzy said. "She's not going to turn him down."

"Yeah, it's Max, 'the oblivious one'," Iggy said. "Now that she knows how he feels—"

"_Oh, my God, guys, get down here right now!_" Ella screamed from downstairs.

Immediately Iggy raced down the stairs, Nudge and Gazzy at his heels, to the couch where Ella was holding a crying Angel in her arms.

"What is it?" Iggy asked, slightly panicked. Whatever could make both Ella and Angel freak out had to be bad.

Nudge was looking at the TV in horror.

"There was a shooting at the rally. Somebody was hurt…they're not releasing the name," Ella explained brokenly.

"Max!" Nudge exclaimed, unable to move.

"Nudge, Gazzy, I need you to open a line to Max. It's the only way we'll know if she's okay," Iggy said, rallying himself impressively and calmly directing the two back up the stairs. He wanted nothing more than to hold Ella, and Angel, and comfort them, but figuring this out was more important.

Nudge looked at Gazzy with tears in her eyes as they ascended the stairs, Iggy not too far behind them. "Do you think…?" she asked. She didn't even want to think about it.

"I don't know," the blonde boy replied. "We'll have to find out."

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

Fang was reading a book when his phone rang. He picked it up but didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" he demanded sharply.

"Fang! Thank God you answered," Max's voice came across the line. She sounded like she was crying.

"Max, are you okay?" he asked. Max crying meant something very bad was happening.

"Something horrible happened," she said, breathing raggedly.

"Max, calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

"I was at the rally giving a speech and somebody tried to kill me. They missed me by an inch and hit the guy behind me. Fang, he's dead. He's dead because of me," Max said. No wonder she was freaking out.

"Max, shh, it's going to be okay. Calm down. Why aren't you calling on your phone?" he asked.

"I dropped it when I took off," she explained. "That's not the point."

"Okay, okay. Max, do you think you can catch an early flight? I think you need to get out of there ASAP," Fang said, a knot of fear in his stomach. Whoever tried to kill her probably wouldn't stop until they had.

"Yeah, I'm so freaked out right now," she admitted. There were noises in the background.

"Max, what are you doing?"

"Well, I came back to the hotel and blocked the door and was in the bathroom. The maid moved everything back in front of the window after I left last time so I'm moving the stuff out of the way so I can get the heck out of here."

Fang raised a brow. "Okay. Max, listen. I want you to get a track phone and call me. I'll add the number to my phone so I know who it is. That way I can keep in contact with you."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," she said sarcastically, "but how exactly am I supposed to pay for it?" That was better. She was feeling better already, using sarcasm.

"There's a couple hundred-dollar bills in the inside pocket of your windbreaker," Fang said calmly.

"How long has that been there?" she asked, puzzled.

"I put the money there before you left, just in case something like this happened," he said.

"Thanks," she sounded surprised and choked up.

"Hey, just because I was upset at you didn't mean I didn't want to make sure you'd be taken care of if anything happened."

"Thanks," she said again, softly. "But what about the flight?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I'll call the airline about your flight. Don't worry about it."

"Well, I've got to get out of here. I'll call you on the track phone in an hour."

"Okay, Max. Be careful."

"Fang..." she started.

"Yeah, Max?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew what was coming.

"Just in case...I really do have feelings for you, you know. And if I manage to get home in one piece—which I'm planning on, I'll have you know—I do want us to be more then friends," she said.

"Max, you just had a near death experience," he said. She needed to get out of there! Not waste time being all gushy. Truthfully, he just didn't want her to make that kind of admission; it sounded too much like something someone would want to say as "last words on earth" or something. "I tell you what. You get back home safely and then we'll figure it out. I want you safe here, so get going," he urged.

"Ok, I am. Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you. I really wish you were here," she said and hung up.

Fang hung up and called the airline. "Hello, this is the assistant of Maximum Ride. I'm calling to move up the date of her return flight … Well, there are extenuating circumstances ... I don't care about your policy. Maximum was nearly assassinated just 20 minutes ago … Yes, I would love to speak to your supervisor…"

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I ran into the first drug store I found, pointed at the track phone behind the clear case, and reached into my inner coat pocket. Right where Fang said it was. The man took of the tag and rang it up. I paid for it and ran out the door as fast as I could.

"Welcome to Trac Phone. Please press 1 for set-up in English … Thank you. Please enter the number found on the lower-right-hand corner of the package … Thank you. Please tell me, what is your name?"

"Max Ride."

"Please repeat that."

"Max Ride."

"Thank you. Please type in the number in the gray square on the card located in the package."

I pressed the buttons as I ran for the airport, willing it to hurry up.

"Thank you, **Max Ride. **Can you please tell me your zip code? … You have entered the zip code for Phoenix**, Arizona**. Is this correct?"

"Yes!" This freaking phone was starting to get on my nerves.

"Thank you. You have now finished your Trac Phone set-up. Your balance is **35** dollars and **zero** cents."

I hurriedly dialed Fang's number, hands shaking a bit. "Fang?"

"Max, I had to argue with an executive of the airline, but your flight's been adjusted. You have to be there in 20 minutes. It's flight 2176," was the first thing he said.

"Thank you so much, Fang. I'll call you when I'm on the plane," I said. He'd done all that for me? Well, I guess any of us would for any of the rest of the flock.

"That's fine. You take care of yourself," he said. 

"Okay, running and talking isn't a combination I can do effectively right now so I have to get off the phone. I love you, bye," I said and hung up, slipping the phone into my pocket. The words had just come naturally. Of course I loved him, as a brother. But did I just figure out that I meant it, for sure, forever, as something much more?

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

"She's not picking up!" Gazzy said, practically in a panic. They all were.

Suddenly somebody picked up the line.

"Max?" Gazzy asked, not quite breathing.

"Non. Scuzi?" Some random person had answered the phone.

Gazzy gave the kill signal.

"Damnit!" Iggy swore. Nudge glared at him but even that faltered.

"It looks like somebody else has her phone," Gazzy said.

"We should try Fang," Nudge said, putting in the command without bothering to clear it with Iggy. She got through.

"Fang?" Gazzy asked.

"Hey, why are you coming across as Max's phone?" Fang asked.

"That doesn't matter. There was a shooting at the rally," Gazzy said hurriedly.

"It's okay," Fang cut Gazzy off before he could continue. "Max called me. She's on a flight and is on her way home right now. I've got a guy here who's going to fly me to the airport. I should be there in about five hours," Fang said.

Gazzy looked up at the panicked faces and just his tone reassured them. "Max is fine, on her way home," he whispered to the other two. They visibly relaxed in their seats. Nudge had tears streaming down her cheeks just from the relief. But Fang had sounded frantic.

"Fang, are you sure she's okay?" Gazzy asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, she's fine, Gazzy, you can tell everyone. She just…never mind. She's okay. I've really got to go." The line went dead.

"Okay, so she's alright. She's on a flight here as we speak, and so is Fang. They'll be landing at the airport in about five hours," Gazzy gave them the details.

"Now we have to sit and wait?" Nudge asked. She hated waiting. But…at least everyone was okay. They were all okay.

"I guess. Oh, and our cover is blown to smithereens," Gazzy said miserably.

Iggy groaned.

"Who cares?!" Nudge exclaimed.

"I DO!" both Gazzy and Iggy replied.

"Why?" Nudge asked. "That shouldn't even matter. Both of them are safe and are coming home, and now everything's going to be fine because we fixed their relationship, too."

"Because if they find out—no, _when_ they figure it out, they'll _kill_ us," Iggy said.

Nudge just shook her head.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I was sitting in my seat, the plane was taking off. Time to call Fang.

"Max, you got there on time! You _did_ get there on time, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. You know me, never late." I heard a snort of laughter from the other end. "I'm on the plane."

"That's great. I'll be at the airport when you land," he said. At the airport?

"But you're in Canada!" I exclaimed.

"Max, you were almost killed and had to pretty much flee the country. Sound familiar? I think for that I can manage to be there for you when you get off the plane," he said. I winced at the memory it brought up. Itex. Germany. The flock splitting up.

"Well, yeah, but thanks anyway. I really don't know what I'd be doing if it weren't for you," I said. Probably still barricading myself in the hotel bathroom, berating myself for such a un-Max-like helplessness but unable to do anything about it.

"That's okay. Max, did you mean it?" he asked suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts, which were basically that if any of the rest of the flock ever heard anything about this entire trip their illusion of Invincible Max would be shattered forever. Of course, it's a lot easier to be Invincible Max when you've got a flock to prove yourself to.

"Mean what?" I asked, confused.

"That you love me." Oh, that.

"Yes. I mean it."

"I love you, too, Max," he said, practically making me melt on the floor of the plane. "I'll see you when you land," he continued without waiting for me to say anything else. If anything happens—anything—call me."

"Will do, Fang. Bye." I said and hung up, staring dazedly at the seat in front of me.

So, either this is what it felt like to be in love or I was having one heck of an adrenaline rush.


	6. Part 6: Live Happily Ever After

**Part 6: And We All Lived Happily Ever After**

**Mission Subject 2—Iron Tooth**

Fang was waiting just outside the airport, thinking of nothing but seeing Max again. They'd talked so much while they were away—he needed to see her.

His flight had been a bit early, so he still had some time before she'd be there. He was thinking about everything they'd talked about.

Max loved him. She'd forgiven him and wanted to work things out. She thought of him as more than just a friend, a brother, and wanted him to feel the same way. Which he did, even though it had taken something like this to make him really see it. He hadn't been completely sure before, but now he was.

They'd been working things out in spite of their distance and everything had been going great until the rally. But Max was okay the last time he'd talked to her, and she'd be here soon so they could finish talking, in person.

And then they'd go home and everything would be just fine. Well, as fine as things could get for recently and unwillingly publicized avian hybrids formerly on the run, anyway.

Fang was brought out of his thoughts by the sight of Max's plane touching down. _Finally_.

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

I raced out of the airport as quickly as I could without drawing too much attention to myself. I didn't exactly have any bags to pick up, so I sailed right through.

I came to a stop just outside the double doors, everything disappearing from my sight except for Fang, who was standing only a couple hundred feet from me, lurking in the shadows of the building. After all I'd been through he was the most welcome sight I could have imagined. If we'd left each other on bad terms, we certainly weren't meeting again on them.

Fang's eyes met mine and without another thought I was closing the distance between us, straight into Fang's arms. He wrapped them around me and, so happy and relieved that I'd gone through the tearful stage and out the other side (thankfully—I _hate_ crying), I held onto him, not planning on letting go anytime soon.

"Max," was the only thing he whispered.

He pulled back a little, and his hand under my chin forced my face to look away from his chest and meet his eyes. I almost took a step back from the intensity of his gaze.

He didn't even have to say anything; I could see it in his eyes, in the relief and devotion there. He loved me.

Fang _loved_ me.

Before I could properly register that thought, his mouth was crushed against mine. At that moment, I couldn't think of anything except how perfectly _right_ this was. Fang kissing me, me kissing back, his arms around me, holding me. _Safe. Bliss._

It was the best kiss I'd ever been part of. Not saying much, considering I'd had a total of three kisses previous to that one, one of them not really counting and the other being from a complete stranger.

Finally we broke apart, neither of us really wanting to. We didn't need to say anything. Words would have broken the spell. We just turned and walked away, Fang's arm still around me, to a place where we could take off safely.

Time to go home.

**Martinez House—Headquarters**

"Max's plane just landed," Nudge reported to Gazzy and Iggy, who were crowded around her.

"Oh, great," Gazzy said. "How long until they get here?"

"At the pace they fly, probably forty-five minutes. An hour at most," Iggy reasoned.

"We're _toast!_" Gazzy wailed.

"Not just toast. Burnt toast. _Without _butter."

**Mission Subject 1—Alpha Wings**

Flying back home, just Fang and I, felt great. I felt more at ease with him than ever, and that was saying something.

"This is nice," I sighed, mostly to myself.

"Yeah," Fang agreed with a half-smile. His smile set off mine and soon I was grinning like an idiot.

"I'm glad you decided to stay and have us work out our problems. I have to hand it to you, it was a great idea," I said, still grinning.

Suddenly, his half-grin pulled down into a frown.

"My idea?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, did you think in my state, after being so mad, then mortified in thinking you'd been dead, I'd even come up with something like that, let alone have the guts to ask you about it?"

"Thinking I was dead?" Fang asked. I could see the genuine confusion in his eyes so I knew he wasn't just teasing me.

"How could you forget? That Jerry—or Jeremy or James or whatever—that was supposed to call me and tell me that you'd arrived safely didn't come across clearly and I thought he told me you were dead instead of 'dead asleep' on his couch…" I trailed off, hoping to jolt his memory.

"Max, there was no Jerry, or Jeremy or James. I called you while I was still at the airport. Wasn't even a couch at the place, and I didn't get to sleep until the next morning," he said, concerned now.

"But, you said—"

"You're the one who said I should stay even after I told you the footage wasn't legit. You said it would give us time to work things out."

At this point, the only thought going through my head was, _What the…?_

Suddenly a look of comprehension, surprise, and finally deadly intent flashed across Fang's face. I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Please explain that look of 'someone's about to die' before I get creeped out," I asked him mock-politely.

"I got a call from what looked like your old phone while you were on the plane to back here. Gazzy was on the other end. They were worried about you," he said by way of explanation in a tone that matched his expression.

Comprehension dawned on my face as well. _Those three are _so _dead_, I thought.

"And neither of us even suspected," I said, starting to laugh in spite of myself. Fang looked at me as if I was crazy, but I waved him off. "Don't you see? We thought we were talking to each other, we know each other better than we know ourselves, but we didn't even suspect anything!"

Fang smirked, the closest he'd come to laughing at the situation. "This doesn't change the fact that they're going to die, does it?"

"Definitely not," I said, becoming slightly serious again. "They messed with our phones and our minds. We should probably be grateful to them for finally making us work out our problems, but Iggy took advantage of Nudge's computer skills and Gazzy's mimicking abilities. And of our feelings. This cannot be ignored, no matter how much good it did in the end."

"So, what were you thinking on doing?" Fang asked.

**Martinez House—Abandoned Headquarters**

"Here they come," Gazzy groaned, stepping away from the window.

"Crap," was all Iggy had to say. They waited in tense silence for Max and Fang to come through to the room they were in.

The two couldn't possibly have _not_ figured it out by now, not since Gazzy called Fang from Max's number, and after their flight home. But it had been terminated early, their plan. What if it hadn't worked? They'd just have to wait and see.

Iggy heard the general noises of greeting downstairs as "Alpha Wings" and "Iron Tooth" were welcomed back by Angel, Total, and Mom. Then their footsteps as they headed for the so-called communications room upstairs.

"Fang, I told you," Max was saying in a fairly upset tone, "I don't want you there."

"They're not just your flock, Max, you can't kick me out!" There was Fang's angry response.

"I want to greet them myself! Just…go away!"

Some kind of shuffling sounded. Max had pushed Fang toward the stairs and he'd nearly fallen down them, Iggy realized, eyes wide. They were worse than ever.

"Do you really think," Fang said in a deadly calm voice, and there was a small sound against the wall just out the door, as if someone had been pushed into it, "that you can push me around like that anymore?"

"I can do whatever the hell I want, Fang," Max said, though her voice was quavering, probably with anger. Hopefully with anger. It would be better than hearing fear from her. "I'm the leader."

"You're a pitiful leader," Fang said, apparently still holding her pinned against the wall. "I'd be ten times the leader you attempt to be, with half the practice."

"You know what, Fang?" Max yelled, probably shoving Fang away from her again. "Being apart for so long has showed me that I don't need you. The flock doesn't need you! And trying to work out our problems showed me that we have more problems than can ever be worked out! So just leave, already!"

The three flock members sat in utterly shocked silence. Iggy couldn't take it anymore. They'd only made things worse! It had to stop.

The three of them walked into the hallway tentatively only to be greeted by four laughing flock members.

"What…?" Iggy managed, now completely confused.

"Maybe that will teach you to interfere into our lives again!" Max exclaimed, still laughing.

"You mean…you aren't mad at each other?" Gazzy asked, confused. Even Fang was laughing, not just smirking. _Laughing_. He guessed it was better than yelling, but still…

Nudge was the first to start laughing along. It was infectious, she couldn't help it. "You have to admit, guys, they played a good trick on us," she said.

"So, everything's ok, now?" Angel asked softly.

"Yeah," Fang answered her. "Everything's going to be fine. No more fights between me and Max. Less, anyway," he amended.

"Thank goodness," Nudge said.

"About time," Iggy muttered, and Max broke away from embracing Angel to smack him on the back of the head.

"No more interfering on our private conversations, ok?" she demanded sternly.

Nudge nodded while Gazzy agreed enthusiastically, muttering something about how disgusting it was to have to talk all sentimental.

And everything was sealed with a collective good-natured groan as Fang soundly kissed Max.

**Our **_**Friendly**_** Neighborhood Wal-Mart**

We walked into the store reluctantly. Some—specifically Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Mom—were less paranoid than others. Sure, everyone knew about us now; we were on television. And, of course, if anyone happened to compare us to the magazines displayed right there in every isle, they'd know who we were right off. But old habits die hard, as the saying goes.

Mom had dragged us along for her weekly shopping trip. Her indisputable logic was that if she had to feed six kids that ate several times more than the average human, they could at least help carry all the extra groceries she'd need. And with a reward like chocolate chip cookies, I'd do pretty much anything.

Fang and I were wandering down the baking-utensils-and-stuff isle looking for a whisk to replace the one Iggy'd worn out on scrambled eggs.

"Hey, Fang, check this out," I said, holding it up to him.

"If you break it, you buy it," Fang said in response, watching me practically toss it in the air as I hefted it to test its weight.

"I'm not going to break it. But I _am_ going to buy it."

He simply raised one eyebrow. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Not for me, for Iggy. He spontaneously came up with the plan that got us together," I said as Fang put an arm around my shoulders. "Why can't I get him a thank-you gift in return?" I asked innocently.

"Well, he has been wanting one."

It wasn't that hard to get it past him. And no, not because he's blind. Because he'd gone outside, apparently for some fresh air.

Ella'd gone missing a few minutes later.

Angel was giggling uncontrollably.

I had a feeling those three facts were somehow connected, but I didn't bother to dwell on it—I might freak out.

**Martinez House—Home**

Fang and I walked into the kitchen together while Iggy was making dinner.

"'Sup?" he asked.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

"Footfalls?" he ventured.

Nope. We hadn't made any. _And_ he'd been listening to his iPod, loudly. I rolled my eyes, letting the matter drop. For all I knew, he could _smell _us coming.

"Surprise," I said, thrusting the wrapped box into his unsuspecting hands.

"What's this?" he asked excitedly, opening it.

"Max's idea," Fang spoke up.

"I felt compelled to get it for you. No clue why; it's not like you deserve it," I put in half-sarcastically.

Iggy just ignored me as he took the object out of the wrapping.

Deciding to let him get back to cooking, or risk not having dinner tonight, Fang and I quickly departed.

**Subject: Bat Boy**

"What the…?" Iggy exclaimed, running his hands around the smooth glass surface. He was officially confused. "A mixing bowl?!"

**Subjects: Extreme Dentistry**

Sitting on the front steps, Fang turned toward me. "Happy now?" he asked.

"Let's see: the flock's content, Angel's not depressed, we're not fighting, the world's saved, no more rallies for at least two months, Iggy's got his mixing bowl, and the only thing I've got to occupy me for the next hour is kissing you," I said, leaning in and doing just that.

Now, to me, that sounds like the closest thing we'll ever get to "happy ever after."


	7. THE Disclaimer

_**Disclaimer:**_

We, MRACR and KRRIMARTE, do not own Maximum Ride. Maximum Ride and all of its characters, locations, and general concepts, themes and ideas belong to James Patterson and are copyrighted to SueJack, Inc.; Published by Little, Brown Company; and Produced by Hachette Books Group USA.

This "fan-fiction" is for non-profit and is for the purposes of amusement and creativity only. The authors have earned no money for the writing of this story.

There has been no attempt to infringe on the copyright or ideas of the original series which this story is based.

Also, we do not own, nor have rights to:

_**Xena: Warrior Princess**_, which is produced by: MCA Television; Renaissance Pictures; Studios USA Television; and Universal TV; and distributed by : Atlantic Film; Italia 1; KANAALTWEE; Mainostelevisio; Studios USA Television; Sub TV; and Universal TV.

_**Casper: The Friendly Ghost**_, which is created by Seymore Reit and Joe Oriolo; and produced by Famous Studios, of Paramount Pictures and Harvey Comics.

_**TRACFONE**_® is a registered trademark of TracFone Wireless, Inc.; a subsidiary of América Móvil.

_**Fed- Ex**_ is copyrighted to Fed-Ex.

_**Wal-Mart**_ is owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Also, there were brief and indirect references to:

Atilla (Attila) the Hun

Godzilla

This has been a complete and legal disclaimer. _Very _complete. If you see anything we missed, you're hallucinating.

Sincerely,

MRACR and KRRIMARTE


	8. AN  KRRIMARTE

_**A.N. - KRRIMARTE**_

_Hey guys, you are awesome! Now I know you're all probably a little confused, but that's okay. I am about half of the time, too. _

_Well, this idea started innocently enough to begin with. I'd just finished writing Last Letters and Forever and Always, and was talking to MRACR about how with her being able to write happy parts and me the dramatic stuff, we'd make an excellent team. _

_... And apparently you agree!_

_I want to say that this has been an adventure in writing, and I don't think it would have turned out as awesome, or as well-punctuated at the least, without MRACR. She's been an awesome partner in crime. _

_Oh yeah, cookies to anybody who saw the mixing bowl thing and laughed wholeheartedly. That was put there just for you guys. _

_For you cookie-less people, the joke is this: In my story "The Lighter Side of Perfect," Max broke one of Iggy's mixing bowls. The very last line was "Come to think of it, we never did replace that mixing bowl..." We wanted to see how many of you would catch that. _

_And this will not be the last MRACR-KRRIMARTE story. Oh no, we've got plans. And don't be surprised if they involve you._

_To our constant readers, we hope that you'll continue to check in and see what plots we weave in the future. _

_KRRIMARTE_

_P.S. __I'm a bit of a dork, so I always like to toss an inside joke into my stories. Much like the bowl in this one. For that, I'd like to thank my brother, who alone understands the meaning of this..._

"_Oh, yes... I forgot.. COMING, OH DESOLATE ONE!!!"_

_Yeah, thanks for letting me borrow it._


End file.
